bastian@enterprise.mathematik.uni-essen.de wrote:

There's an episode in manga vol. 7 in a public bath.

Well, har-de-har!  If I *had* that volume, would I be asking? :(

Hah, then, OK let's do it from memory.
The public bath pictured in the manga has one big room
separated in two by a wall that doesn't go all the way to
the ceiling. One side for guys, the other side for gals.

On each side, there are water taps at knee-height or maybe
lower, so people can use them to wash while sitting on the
low stool (like the one Akane and onna-Ranma use in the
first episode.) As usual in Japan, people use the washcloth
sitting on the stool, then upturn a pail of water to rinse,
and afterwards go to soak in a hot tub (large tubs, more like
shallow pools, you're up ro your neck when you sit.).
One interesting feature of that hot pool is that they're all
connected, including between men's and women's sides so. In
theory, you can swin thru the hole underwater, which is large
enough to accomodate Ranma. Of course Happosai tries it...
I don't remember the exact detail, but it seems that the taps
only provide cold water. Some of the taps are lined on a low
wall in the middle of the room, while the others are lined
along the wall, and have mirrors above them (at least in the
women's section which is the one most shown in the manga).

Voila. Since I've never been to a Japanese public bath, that's
all. Of course since you're interested in a Ranma public bath,
it should fit quite right.

BTW, if you find a bookstore that sells French books, the Ranma
manga has been translaterd into French, published by Glenat.
They're up to Manga vol 8 (9 next week I think). You will find
the bath episode, as well as the infamous "martial arts pail"
technique use by Happosai.

Hope this helps.

A+

JF